Topic: Rare Earth Elements supply – challenges for the Green and Digital Transition

Demand for critical minerals is expected to soar in the context of the energy transition and decarbonisation in the coming years. Rare Earth Elements are listed as critical minerals by the European Union (EU) and the United States, among others. In this session we will present an international mapping initiative that has documented sensitive socio-environmental conflicts related to theexpansion of Rare Earths Elements (REEs) commodity chains (extraction, processing, recycling…) across the globe. The map documents about 30 cases of socio-environmental mobilization in Australia, Chile, Brazil, Madagascar, Malaysia, Myanmar, Finland, India, Spain, Sweden, among other countries. We discuss the implications of the documented impacts and conflicts for affected communities and Green and Digital Transition agendas.  We will also discuss with voices from affected communities and a political representative.

The Debt Observatory in Globalisation, the EJAtlas, The Institute for Policy Studies and CRAAD-OI, as part of the Global Rare Earths Element Network, in collaboration with researchers, grassroots and organizations have developed this featured map of socio-environmental conflicts related to the supply chain of Rare Earth Elements.